'Donut Boy' makes sweet delivery to Southwest Florida law enforcement officers

A 9-year-old boy’s mission to thank every police officer in America with a sweet treat brought him to Southwest Florida on Tuesday.

They call him the "donut boy," and he says police officers are his best friends.

"They keep me safe," Tyler Carach said, while wearing his signature doughnut-patterned cape.

Tyler, a native of Bratt in the Panhandle, delivered 480 of the sweet treats to the Lee County Sheriff's Office and another 480 to the Collier Sheriff's Office.

He posed for photos, sneaking bunny ears behind the officers' heads, played tug-of-war with Saber, a Lee Sheriff's Office K-9, and explored inside SWAT vehicles.

More: #SWFLstrong: A sweet friendship: Dunkin' Donuts staff befriends special customer

"There's a glow in his eyes, and you can tell that you're making a difference in his life, and he's also making one in yours," Lee County Undersheriff Carmine Marceno said Tuesday.

Tyler got the idea about a year ago when he saw four deputies at a convenience store.

"Cops' favorite drink is coffee and favorite food is doughnuts," he told his mom, so he wanted to buy treats for the deputies with his own allowance money. 

And his mother, Sheena Carach, a former police officer, couldn't say no.

"I explained to him that cops were having a hard time and things were just kind of negative for them, so they could really use encouragement," she recalled. 

Tyler replied: "OK, well, I’m going to thank every cop in America and buy them a doughnut."

He has delivered more than 6,000 doughnuts since September, when he started his campaign, "I DONUT need a reason to thank a cop."

He has visited police departments in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Illinois and Oregon. He plans to deliver another 10,000 doughnuts — most of them donated or discounted by doughnut shops and chains — on a six-week trip this summer along the East Coast.

His heartfelt mission caught the attention of the "Steve Harvey Show," where Tyler appeared in an episode that aired in January. 

"It's just been this crazy thing," Sheena Carach said. "I'm so unbelievably proud of the respect he has for law enforcement. ... I can look at him now and see what kind of man he's going to grow up to be."

On Tuesday, after officers made their selections from boxes of doughnuts donated from Dunkin Donuts, they took Tyler outside to see the "cool" equipment. Tyler's eyes lit up when Lee Sheriff's Office Detective Tim Galloway lifted a bulletproof SWAT jacket over his small shoulders. A helmet completed the ensemble.

"This is heavy," Tyler said, but his smile never wavered.

Galloway took him behind his sniper rifle to adjust the scope. Of all the departments Tyler has visited across the country, this was his first time he saw a sniper, his mom said.

"Seeing him light up like that warms my heart," Galloway said.

In Collier County, Tyler met Coffee, the drug-sniffing chocolate Labrador. Tyler said he wants to be a K-9 officer when he grows up.

More: Sushi donuts are here and they're blowing the Internet's mind

"She licked me!" he hollered after Coffee sneaked a kiss.

Collier Sheriff Kevin Rambosk enlisted Tyler as a junior deputy. A visit from the Donut Boy is a "terrific thank you," Rambosk said.

"It's amazing that he chose to do this on his own, with his own money, and start a movement that is taking off around the nation," he said.

Tyler might not have any clue how ambitious his mission is, but his goal is simple:

"To remind them that people still care."